Tuesday, February 8, 2011

REVIEW: Gormiti Humongous, The Lord of the Earth

A giant, he draws his strength from the Ancient Power of the Earth! Blind at birth, his acute hearing detects every sound all around, thanks to his magic powers. His four limbs pound like hammers, banging fists on the ground that can set off isolated earthquakes!

Gormi-what?

As regular readers I'm sure are aware, we've already Reviewed two figures from the Gormiti line - Hypnofrog and Hawk Silent - but for those who missed it, it's certainly worth a revisit.

Go on... It's fine, the rest of us will just sit here and wait while you get up to speed...

So... Seen Tron Legacy yet? Is it good? It's awesome - it looks great and the soundtrack is superb. Yes, I'd heard that. Definitely one to see at the movies. I dunno, I like the whole big screen thing but I hate watching movies when there are other people there. Oh I know, when we saw Tron Legacy there were herds of kids wandering in and out constantly. Yeah, I hate it when that happens. Yeah, and of course, they all had their cell phones with them. Ugh! Theaters should ban them. I know. Oh, you're back - on with the Review!

Packaging

Humongous is one of the Gormiti Lords, larger-than-normal figures that are not included in the two-figure sets. In Humongous' case, he's included in a four- and ten-piece set and my advice is to get the four-figure sets before the two-figure ones, as that way there's less chance of duplicates.

The packaging does a perfectly good job of displaying the figures within and the rear includes a nice checklist of the other toys in the range. However, the pack is not resealable and will be damaged when you open it.

Note that although the pack contains other Gormiti figures, I'm going to be doing a single-figure Review of Humongous alone.

Humongous, The Lord of the Earth

Humongous is a nice, chunky-feeling toy, like most of the Earth Tribe figures. He's cast in three pieces - a lower body a torso and a head - and although the join-lines are plainly visible, the figure is certainly sturdy and I think it would take a concerted effort to pull the pieces apart. As a Gormiti Lord, he's also somewhat larger than a regular Gormiti, as you can see here.

Not only is he taller but there's also a more substantial bulk to his shoulders/arms and his legs have a satisfyingly hefty feel to them, even if he is - surprisingly - a little unsteady on his feet.

Like all other Earth Tribe characters, he's a fusion of ground-based elements, with his armour having a rock-like appearance and his secondary arms having mole-like claws. The hybridisation of these elements gives the Earth Tribe figures a much more interesting look than, say, the Forest Tribe, which consists of trees and... trees.

His paint - which follows the standard Earth Tribe colourway of yellow, grey and brown - is applied liberally but fairly accurately and it's only really the head that suffers from some slightly-sloppy application around his... eyes? Glasses? I'm not sure.

Like all Gormiti of this scale, he's not articulated. The pose is quite nice, with a hulking, determined presence to it and there's a very solid look to the figure.

Extras
Humongous comes with his own collector card. As I stated in the previous Gormiti Review, the ''game'' it's used in really isn't much of a game, but I'm also fully aware of the fact that these figures are intended for young kids and so wouldn't expect Risk levels of strategy.

Final Thoughts
Humongous, The Lord of the Earth is a nicely sculpted figure, with a sturdy, rock-like feel to him and some nicely applied paint detail. Whether you'll find him a good buy depends on your view of the Gormiti line. If you like non-poseable, small-scale toys then you won't be disappointed with Humongous. But if you don't ''get'' the appeal, then this probably won't do much to convert you.

However, the reason why I'm including this figure for Review today is because my local Toys R Us are having a clearance sale of older stock, including a number of unsold Gormiti two- and four-packs, both of which are selling at around a third of their original price. So if you're a fan or you're interested in seeing more of these toys and your local TRU is also in on this deal, now would be the ideal time to lay down a couple of bucks and see the figures for yourself.